Runners Fish Market and Restaurant

Runners is our go-​to seafood restaurant in the summer. I recently went with my family and had the twin lobster tails, which came with veggies and a baked potato. My husband had the broiled combo which is another favorite of mine because it has a little bit of everything. Lastly, my dad had the wasabi tuna which I also had before and is delicious. It does have a kick so you might want to ask for the sauce on the side. We had carrot cake and brownie for dessert. Everything is fresh and delicious! The staff and owner are personable and have cultivated a family friendly environment. I would recommend Runners to anyone… Even non seafood lovers.

I decided to stop on for lunch late in the summer season. It was late (after 2pm) and the place was empty, which I expected. The first thing that hits you when you walk in is the smell. Truth be told, it doesn’t smell good. Now, it is a seafood market as well as a resturant, so you’d expect to smell fish. But this is not a fishy smell. Hard to explain, but it is not pleasant.
In any case, I dealt with it. I ordered the mussels marinara and grilled swordfish platter. I’m staying away from starches in my diet so I went with substituted grilled vegetables instead of fries or potato (forgot which was the default choice). Be food was pretty good. The portion on the mussels was plentiful and the sauce was delicious. The swordfish and vegetables were delicious and loaded with flavor, however there was a inescapable taste of fuel (gas) (from the grill) on the veggies and fish. I guess they were cooked at a very high and flaring up heat. It wasn’t terrible but very much detracted from the otherwise good favors. Also on the downside was the fact that some of the grilled veggies were kind of tough. I prefer them very tender. Again, not a big deal. The service was very attentive and the place is clean. Overall, I enjoyed my meal and will be coming back to take another stab at it. Advice to management. Try to address the odor thing as it may turn some people off. You get used to it very quick. Also, please serve bread with mussels marinara! Although I wouldn’t have eaten it because of my diet, serving mussels without bread is sacrilege to this born and raised ½ Italian Jersey guy!

We had dinner here while on vacation in June. Spicy mussels appetizer and salmon teriyaki were really good. Small place, service was good and fast which worked out for us because we had a friend waiting for us back at the house. Nice that they have BYOB as well. Overall a good, quick, casual place to grab dinner or take out!

My husband and I went for lunch. We wanted a quick bite. We walked into Runners for some seafood. The smell of fish was very strong and unappetizing, but they sell seafood. So we dealt with it. We were the only people seated. They recommended the specialty sandwiches. I decided on lobster roll (16.95) and my husband the shrimp salad. (11.95?) After waiting 25 minutes for two sandwiches, I was very disappointed. The lobster roll was on a SMALL piece of white bread with black char marks. It was dressed with a few squirts of curry mayo. The only distinct flavor was the blackened toast! My husband’s shrimp «salad» was more like boiled shrimp on a roll. No flavor!!! Too long a wait for a disappointing expensive sandwich.

This place. Let me tell you. SO GOOD! Our server Jillian was so personable, amazing and you could tell from the get that she knew what she was doing. The seafood was so fresh, so amazing. Seriously just awesome. It’s BYO (which just makes it that much better) and compared to other restaurants in the area, honestly. you couldn’t ask for more!
They even have an amazing fish market that’s on the other side of the restaurant… the menu is different for that (but the pricing is GREAT) and the seafood is above par. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The place is good and the items on the menu are consistent however they desperately need to change things up a bit. We are at the shore often and the chalk board with the specials has been the same for years and the menu is boring.
The place is a fish market and the restaurant section is small so you know that equals high prices. I’m my opinion, for what what your actually getting the prices are real high.

SO GOOD. Super casual dining (yes, you can come here straight from the beach) super fresh fish, served by an amazingly friendly and sweet staff at affordable and market prices. Had a really amazing meal for two without an ounce of pretention. My dish was the perfect barometer for quality and preparation — raw oysters and boiled lobster. The oysters were sweet, ice cold and clean. The lobster was perfectly cooked, no toughness and arrived cleaned, split and lightly cracked. PERFECTION.
I’d like to add — during our week in Mantoloking, we ate at Runner’s 3 times. It is THE BEST!

The food here was mediocre. I got a hot and cold sampler, crab meat cocktail, and Thai chili calamari.
Please note that the samplers only contain two of each item listed on the menu. The oysters were too briney and fishy. The crab meat was reasonably sweet, but the Thai chili calamari had a slightly soggy batter and the Thai chili literally comes from a bottle you can buy off the store.
I would venture somewhere else for your seafood needs.

Year after year the best seafood on the Jersey Shore and the people the work there are even better!

We came here for lunch today after searching this area of the shore for relatively healthy eating. What a gem! My hubby got the Ceasar salad with blackened tuna. I had the same salad but with salmon. We both had the Ceasar dressing on the side. Our son got the mozzarella sticks. Everything was delish. The size of the salmon portion on my salad was huge! And perfectly seasoned! There is a fish market at the front of the restaurant. The only reason for the four stars is the dated décor.

BYOB?! Best invention ever. I could wait for an hour at least, if I could drink while doing so. Brought a bottle of wine and they brought us glasses to start drinking as we waited for a table. This is a first for me. Delish food. Big portions, I couldn’t even finish everything. If I’m ever back in the area, I will come again!

This place is the best! The focus ios on the quality seafood. BYOB is great, save some $$ there. I also recommend the takeout. They usually have great specials but i love the scallops, either fried or broiled. The fried is a very light and tasty breading. Really great. LOL at people complaining about the prices. Guess you either don’t get out much or don’t eat seafood much. prices are very reasonable for high-​quality seafood. I only wish the place was open after Labor day and before June 26 but oh well. The only place that comes close to this is Spike’s in Point Pleasant. keep up the great work. See you next summer!

Realize this is a beach restaurant that only has a few months to make a profit BUT. Expensive!!! Should be $$$. It is $$. Food, inconsistent for the price. The bad: Calamari, crispy as in almost burnt, sauce, watery and low on flavor. New England clam chowder had no clams $ 5.95 for a cup (lunch menu had same cup for $ 4.95). Dinner, shrimp on angel hair pasta, shrimp perfectly cooked, pasta was so over cooked it was like mushy goo (not edible), $ 25 for a few shrimp on a pile of pasta. The good, service was great, grilled Mahi Mahi, perfectly cooked. Tilapia dish, fantastic. BYOB!
Bottom line, it’s ok, order carefully.

If you like seafood, this is your place! Food is fresh and perfectly prepared. Lovely staff. We were a group of 8. Great apps! We all had something different as our entrees, everyone was very happy with his/​her respective choice. Also, the fish offerings in market portion of the restaurant were spectacular. Best I have seen at the Shore. Can’t wait to go back to buy something yummy to cook!

This little place was AWESOME! The best seafood I’ve had in a long time. It is bring your own and get there early so u don’t have to wait. We got the broiled combo with tilapia, scallops and shrimp. It was delicious. Wow scallops the best I ever had. We also shared a special that night Lobster ravioli with spinach and a crab cream sauce Yummy! Can’t wait to go back. Oh also if you want to just pick up fresh seafood and cook yourself they have that too. Also BYOB. Another wonderful thing.

Run to runners, with a bottle of rum in order to mutter!
I don’t know what that means, but Runners Fish Market makes me so happy that I start speaking in tongue. I came here with a group of 6, barely any wait at dinner hour (if you go to Vinny’s nearby the wait is SUPER long). We were starved so ordered right away, the special of the day was the Firecracker calamari and they are tangy little rings of heaven fried crispy and then drizzled with some kind of crack addicting-​finger licking heavenly sauce. I nearly had pull the last one right off my boyfriends fork because they were so good. The portion is GIANT (and cheap only $ 10), we shared with our whole table and still had plenty.
Then we got the Seafood Combination platter for our meal and that was just as satisfying. It was a little bit of everything for the fatty foodie in you to try (and Unilocal about!). We had a perfectly seasoned crab cake, fluffy, thick and melted in your mouth. There was a piece of grilled fish that just fell apart in the best of ways and jumped into your palate. Also some shrimp that I had no room for after the salad AND side of french fries that we had scarfed down.
And just when you think, this place could not possibly make your vacation down the shore any better… I tell you… this place is also BYOB!
Come here on a night that you do not plan on dancing, moving or doing ANY physical activity after your meal, because you will be stuffed and naturally in a very satisfying food coma.

Excellent! While enjoying a week at the lovely Jersey shore, I came here on a Friday night with my family (9 of us). They don’t take reservations (annoying!), but when we originally called for them the nice employee advised us to arrive around 6 to avoid a wait. I know that’s crazy early for dinner and I objected since I hate to eat before 7, but in the end the food was worth it.
We started with two of the special appetizers which were spicy swordfish bites and firecracker calamari. Both were excellent! Entrees are served with a salad, which was a good portion and very fresh tasting. I had one of the specials of the evening which was general tso halibut, which was HUGE portion. The wasabi mashed taters on the side were intense! Usually I can’t taste much wasabi in mashed taters, but these were packing some heat. The halibut was cooked perfectly.
This place is a bit unassuming but their food is delicious and the service was very friendly. The menu is mostly seafood, but there were some non-​seafood options. The menu was also quite large and varied. I would definitely come back.
TIP: BYOB!

Stopped in to pick up some fish for dinner on the way home from a day in Seaside (don’t judge).
They had, without a doubt, the cleanest fish market I have seen in NJ. The tuna we got for dinner had to be the freshest, cleanest fish I have purchased in a long time. I will definitely be back, even though it’s about 30 minutes away from where I live.

One of the nicer restaurants in the area. Really good service (we were a group of 8 adults and 3 babies) and the food is very good. Expect to spend a little more, but that’s usually the case with seafood. BYOB. For 8 adult meals and 2 children’s meals, the bill came to $ 200 without tip (only two people ordered a drink — everyone else had water). Each entrée comes with a salad or coleslaw. The specials were $ 29.95.

Best seafood on the island! Friendly staff with an attention to detail.